President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia possessed a "sufficient stockpile" of cluster bombs and reserved the right to use them if such weapons, whose use he described as criminal, were used against Russian forces in Ukraine.
Ukraine announced on Thursday that it had received cluster explosives from the United States, its largest military ally, which says the munitions are required to make up for shell shortages encountered by Kyiv's forces during a counteroffensive.
Putin Says Russia Has Stockpiled Cluster Bombs
Per Reuters, over 100 countries have outlawed cluster munitions because they typically discharge many tiny bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a large area. Some will inevitably fail to detonate, posing a threat for decades, especially to minors.
Kyiv has stated that it will use cluster munitions to disperse adversary troop concentrations when attempting to reclaim its territory, but not on Russian territory. Putin told state television that Russia would retaliate in kind if necessary.
Putin stated that he viewed the use of cluster munitions as a crime and that, despite having experienced ammunition shortages in the past, Russia had not yet needed to employ them.
Human Rights Watch asserts that both Moscow and Kyiv have employed cluster bombs. The United States, Russia, and Ukraine have not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the production, stockpiling, use, and transfer of cluster bombs.
Putin also stated on state television that he saw no problem with Russian specialists examining captured Western military equipment and missiles, such as the Storm Shadow missiles Britain supplied to Ukraine, to determine if any useful components could be incorporated into Russia's military hardware.
This is the first time the United States has commented on the delivery of munitions to Ukraine. The use of cluster munitions by Russia and Ukraine has been extensively documented, and cluster rounds have been discovered in the aftermath of Russian attacks.
Pavel Zarubin, a correspondent for Rossiya TV, posted excerpts of the interview to his Telegram channel on Sunday before its broadcast on Sunday evening. The Pentagon announced Thursday that US-supplied cluster munitions have arrived in Ukraine, as per Daily Mail.
The US views the munitions, bombs that detonate in the air and unleash many smaller bomblets, as a means to provide Kyiv with desperately needed ammunition to bolster its offensive and drive through the Russian front lines.
President Joe Biden made the final decision last week after months of deliberation on the complex issue. Humanitarian organizations and some US allies have long criticized cluster munitions for their high "dud rate," meaning they frequently leave behind unexploded bomblets that can continue to damage civilians long after a battle.
Russia-Ukraine War
Proponents contend that Russia has already employed cluster munitions in Ukraine and that the US-supplied weaponry leaves far fewer unexploded rounds in their wake. Ukraine has pledged not to use them in densely populated areas.
The Ukrainian military reported in a Sunday morning update that Russia had launched two Shahed explosive drones made in Iran, two cruise missiles, and two anti-aircraft guided missiles in addition to 40 airstrikes and 46 attacks from multiple rocket launchers over the previous 24 hours.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia continues to prioritize offensive operations in the industrial east of Ukraine. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor of Donetsk, stated on Sunday that two region residents were slain and one was injured on Saturday.
On Sunday, the deputy defense minister of Ukraine, Hanna Maliar, stated that combat in eastern Ukraine had "somewhat intensified" amid a slow counteroffensive that has yielded Ukraine minor territorial gains.
She wrote on Telegram that Russia had been "actively attacking" in the direction of Kupiansk in the north-eastern Kharkiv region for two days and that Ukrainian forces were "on the defensive" there.
Since ceding control of the city to Russia in May, Ukraine has endeavored to encircle it.
In a separate excerpt from Zarubin, Putin argued that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had been futile.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, two young boys, ages eight and ten, were injured when an incendiary device left by Russian forces exploded in the southern region of Kherson on Sunday. Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional administrator, stated that Russia had launched 69 artillery attacks against the Kherson region.
